Undiscovered Scotland: The Ultimate Online Guide

James III lived from 10 July 1451 to 11 June 1488 and was King of
Scotland from 3 August 1460 until 11 June 1488. James was the eldest son of
James II and at the time of his father's accidental
death from an exploding cannon at Roxburgh castle he was just 9 years old. His
coronation took place at Kelso
Abbey on 10 August 1460. The wider picture in Scotland at the time is set
out in our Historical
Timeline.

James' mother, Mary de Gueldres, acted as his Regent during the
early years of his reign, though after her death in 1463 James, like his father
before him, found himself the focus of rival factions of Scottish nobles
seeking to gain power for themselves.

In 1468 James took the reins of power for himself. And in July that
year he made his most enduring contribution to today's Scotland. He married
Margaret of Denmark at Holyrood
Abbey. She was the daughter of King Kristian I of Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
Her dowry was 60,000 Guilders. The first 10,000 was payable in cash, and the
remainder was mortgaged against Orkney.
In the event, the King could only find 2,000 Guilders immediately, so the
missing 8,000 was mortgaged against Shetland. In the background King James III
did a deal with the Sinclair family of
Roslin,who were hereditary
Earls of Orkney, swapping their estates in Orkney for lands around
Ravenscraig Castle,
in Fife.

By 1472 the money owed by King Kristian had still not been paid, so
the Scottish Parliament passed an Act annexing both
Orkney and
Shetland to Scotland. Neither the Danes
nor the Norwegians accepted the annexation for centuries afterwards, but it was
arguably legal and there was very little in practice they could do about it.

In most of the 1470s James neglected issues of politics and
economy, preferring instead to focus on his support for the arts and his
efforts to form alliances with England involving insanely ambitious invasion
and occupation of various parts of continental Europe that never came to
anything. One result was the perception he was embezzling the kingdom's funds
for his personal benefit and handing out honours and lands to assorted
favourite hangers-on. Meanwhile poverty and inflation were rampant. James
sought to mint his way out of trouble by forging coins bearing an effigy of
himself. These did nothing to help the economy, but did help focus disaffection
with his personal rule.

In 1482 the English invaded Scotland yet again, taking
Berwick-upon-Tweed for
the final time as they did so. The English were in Scotland to support the
claim of James' brother, "Alexander IV" the Duke of Albany to the crown of
Scotland in line with a deal he had struck with Edward IV of England. Key
command positions in the Scottish army had been given by James to his cronies
and at Lauder in July 1482 the
Scottish nobles rebelled. They killed many of his cronies and imprisoned James
in Edinburgh Castle.
The English army took Edinburgh, but were not
equipped to besiege the castle, so withdrew.

King James III was released and apparently reconciled with his
brother Alexander not long afterwards. In July 1486
Queen Margaret died at
Stirling Castle, and
rumours spread across Scotland that their unpopular King had poisoned their
very popular Queen. They were
probably unfounded, but had an effect nonetheless. By June 1488, Scotland's
nobles were again in open revolt against James: now, though still only 36 years
old, living an increasingly isolated life at
Stirling Castle. And
this time they had the support of James' 15 year old son, the future
James IV.

On 15 June 1488 James III emerged from
Stirling Castle to do
battle with his nobles at the Battle of Sauchieburn, on pretty much the same
site as the Battle of Bannockburn. James III is said to have entered the battle
carrying the sword of Robert the Bruce. The larger
army of the nobles prevailed and James was forced to flee, falling from his
horse as he did so. He was given shelter by a miller and his wife, but while
recovering was killed in circumstances that remain very unclear. James was
buried at the nearby Cambuskenneth Abbey and his
grave is still marked by a large tomb.